Courses
Anthropology
5006. Quantitative Analysis of Anthropological Data (3 s.h.)
The primary goal of this course is to provide students with a solid grounding in basic statistical techniques/methods as applied to anthropological data. Such data is highly variable in form due, in part, to the diversity of research questions being asked and to the methods of collection. The ultimate goal of this course is to bring together various data sets and methods so that students might better assess the results/interpretations presented in the anthropological literature. New quantitative concepts will be presented each week along with examples/applications of the concepts and practice problems. The problems associated with the main course text will be solved using a hand calculator; more complex data sets and problems will require the use of computer statistical software (i.e. SPSS (available on all University machines)).
5170. Methods of Archaeology (3 s.h.)
Methods and procedures used in the practice of archaeology with topical foci varying by semester. Semester long topics include: cultural resource management; sediments, soils, and geomorphology in archaeology; pottery analysis; and lithic analysis. As an example, the lithic analysis focus provides hands-on experience in analyzing lithic assemblages through experimental replication of stone tools, experimental use of stone tools, microscopic analysis of experimental and archaeological specimens, and classification of lithic assemblages. The first half of the course consists of laboratory exercises in making, using, and analyzing stone tools and flaking debris. The second half of the course is devoted to the conducting of independent research projects by class members on some aspect of lithic analysis. Because topics change, 5170 may be taken more than once.
5171. Comparative Early Civilizations (3 s.h.)
This comparative analysis of the rise of early civilizations uses archaeological and historical information to examine the development of ancient societies. It focuses on problems of the Neolithic revolution and the autochthonous transformation of kin-based communities into stratified societies and the subsequent formation and development of archaic states.
5172. Seminar in Northeastern Prehistory (3 s.h.)
The archaeology and prehistory of the native peoples of the Middle Atlantic Region are examined in detail, and in the broader context of cultural developments in the Northeast and Eastern Woodlands of the United States. Although the seminar employs cultural historical periods as a way to present information, cultural diversity across time and space are emphasized. Basic descriptive data dealing with prehistoric cultures are presented, as well as the variety of interpretations of native lifeways upon which they are based. Included in the course is information derived from cultural resource management studies, the results of which are infrequently published.
5174. Historic Sites Archaeology (3 s.h.)
Topical focus varying by semester dealing with the archaeology of colonial and later periods of American history.
5177. Approaches in Historic Sites Archaeology (3 s.h.)
Students examine the central questions, values, and goals of historical archaeology, gaining a working knowledge of its basic concepts and methods. A material culture approach is used as archaeological objects are presented in sites where they express a series of concepts related to our understanding of status, wealth, self identity, consumerism, and symbolism. A holistic framework is used to present material evidence together with documentary, oral, and other data. A variety of sites will be examined in order to introduce many important subfields of historical archaeology such as battlefield archaeology, urban archaeology, industrial archaeology, and underwater archaeology. The course also will demonstrate how such evidence illuminates the modern world and its relevance to our own time and place.
5189. Field Session in Archaeology (3 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Techniques and concepts of field archaeology, including survey and excavation. Students will be expected to spend the greatest part of the session in the field during the excavation of a prehistoric or historic occupation site. The location of field projects shifts from year to year. Previous locations have included coastal Maryland, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Middle and Upper Delaware Valley, and Valley Forge.
5310. Theory and Methods in Cultural Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Visual and Material Consumption Fall 2008
This course examines anthropological approaches to visual and material consumption in social life. Through readings in both classic social theory and contemporary theory and ethnography, we will investigate how images and things acquire meaning, organize social life, and constitute
identities through different consumptive processes.
Questions to be addressed include: How do people create social identities, hierarchies, or senses of collective belonging through consumption practices? How do images and objects acquire value or significance in different consumption contexts – from gift exchange to internet surfing to shopping? What is the relationship between images, objects, money, and morality in different societies? How can we understand the commodity form ethnographically? What can consumption reveal about processes of state formation and globalization – from the creation of imagined communities to the creation of inequalities? What are the differences between the consumption of visual media versus material objects?
5322. Anthropology & Development (3 s.h.)
Economic Anthropology is the study of how economic systems articulate with culture on a variety of scales. This class examines basic paradigms of study in economic anthropology, theories of money and value, and ethnographies of exchange. We will look at how the commodification, production and/or sale of goods in formal, informal and black markets affect people in very different ways. We think through the role of the state, of religion, power struggles and advertising in shaping these markets.
5325. Culture, History & Power (3 s.h.)
This course examines how both western and non-western societies have defined the domain of “politics”. While looking at a range of ethnographies on different forms of politics, we will also attempt to understand how anthropologists historically have studied politics, and how anthropological notions of politics have changed through time.
5326. Problems in the Anthropological Study of Religion (3 s.h.)
This course examines some of the major themes, methods, and intellectual traditions of the study of religion in anthropology. Considered as a comparative study of religious practice, this course seeks to understand thought and behavior in worship, iconography, pilgrimage, domestic and congregational performance, mythology and cosmology, trance, dance, sacrifice, ritual experience and other dimensions of religious life as well as the way that these facets of religious culture interrelate. The study of religion in a historically complex circumstance will provide the means to examine the processes of accommodation and tension that exist in a multi-religious environment.
5328. Seminar in Social Organization (3 s.h.)
5332. Medical Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Examines biocultural and sociocultural approaches to the understanding of multiplex human experiences of health, disease, and affliction. Introduction to the major theoretical schools and critical issues of contemporary medical anthropology. Explores six topical areas: biocultural perspectives on disease and health; ethnomedicine; medical pluralism; medicine and social control; international health development; and the relationships between culture/ society and scientific biomedical representations.
5335. Anthropology and Social Policy (3 s.h.)
Examines "applied" domain and different ways of "using" anthropological knowledge, ranging from critiques of international and federal social policies as products of the state and private interests to participative anthropology that moves toward political action and empowerment, to working for the state and private corporate centers as a way to make a living. Evaluates the efficacy of different types of work for progressive social change and examines the possibilities of how to make our research matter more in relation to major public issues.
5355. Gender Theory (3 s.h.)
Explores anthropological literature on gender as a means of exposing the hidden assumptions about power, language, and gender that inform anthropological theory. Theoretical critiques of this literature will be used to reassess anthropology and to generate a systematic approach to the study of gender.
5358. American Culture: Conformity and Diversity (3 s.h.)
5366. Contemporary Perspectives in Urban Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Examines the development of urban anthropology from the early debates of the 1970s to redefinitions in the 1980s. The emerging paradigm of intensive studies of local social processes within larger macrostructural contexts is the focus.
5389. Fieldwork in Ethnography (3 s.h.)
Fieldwork and ethnography are recognized as landmarks of anthropology. In this course students will have the opportunity to reflect upon, explore, and experiment first hand with the complex craft of anthropologists. Conducted in a workshop style, this course will enable students to experiment with conducting short fieldwork exercises and research projects, to discuss their findings, and work towards the production of a mini ethnography. Another part of the course will provide a forum for the critical assessment of various fieldwork methods and ethnographic writing. Guest speakers will also contribute to this assessment by sharing their fieldwork experiences with the class. Videos shown in class and mini field trips will provide ethnographic materials for group analysis. Format: workshop style with a combination of short lectures, class discussions, screenings, and student presentations.
5396. History of Anthropological Theory (3 s.h.)
Clarifies various intellectual currents in contemporary anthropology, their relationships to intellectual and social developments, and debates in the broader society. Concerned with the development of anthropological thought as it has been shaped by Western society and the emergence of various intellectual tendencies. Surveys the antecedents of anthropology in the major intellectual currents of the early modern era and its crystallization during the Age of Revolution. Focuses in detail on what happened after the social sciences were professionalized in the late 19th century.
5428. Theory and Methods In Cultures and Communication (3 s.h.)
This course explores the history and development of visual culture. Considered are: the history of perception and how mechanical and digital reproduction have had an impact on the sensuousness of the gaze-in-culture; how various intellectual movements in the 20th century effected visual reproduction. The course provides a solid historical foundation with which students can enhance their comprehension of contemporary visual culture.
5434. Anthropology in Feature Films (3 s.h.)
Students will critically review a series of feature films that include topics, themes, and subject matter often treated within anthropology and related human sciences. It is clear that American feature films usually thought of as 'Hollywood films' can be very influential in establishing or reinforcing social and cultural stereotypes of 'states of knowledge' about peoples living in various parts of the world. Viewership of these materials, either as films shown in movie theaters or as their videotape counterparts seen on home television screens, certainly exceeds the size of audiences in introductory anthropology courses in the U.S. The potential for influence and false senses of familiarity is enormous.
5438. The Anthropology of Mass Media (3 s.h.)
This course examines the relationships between various types of media (film, radio, television, Internet, newspaper, telephone, performance) and power relations, control, and cultural representation. We will look at reception studies, and social construction of ‘news watching’, the construction of ‘others’ and the maintenance of ‘otherness’ in media, as well as the international politics of media messages and the power of media in influencing our opinions about the world.
5439. The Anthropology of Photography (3 s.h.)
A critical examination of an anthropological approach to photography. Special attention will be given to a socio-cultural history of photography in the U.S. Examples from documentary, fine art, and commercial photographic genres will be shown, discussed, and compared to ethnographic studies. Field methods, models of analysis, and ethical issues will also be included. Required readings, active class participation. No exams. Students keep a journal and write several short essays. Note: Knowledge of camera technology and darkroom procedures is helpful but not required.
5444. Anthropological Problems in Visual Production (3 s.h.)
The introduction of visual recording techniques to a sample of problems in the anthropology of visual communication. Discussions will include ways anthropologists construct problems, develop observational strategies, select appropriate image-making technology, work in field conditions, among others. Strategies of representation connected to the integration of cultural and film theories will be explored in conjunction with a wide range of film examples. Students will be introduced to the department's production facilities and do short exercises in image making, viewing, and interpretation.
5458. The Anthropology of Public Culture (3 s.h.)
Explores museums, exhibitions, galleries, and festivals as a form of public culture. Activities include critical reading of relevant literature and an examination of films, CD-ROM's, Internet web sites as well as field trips to local institutions.
5501. Sociolinguistics (3 s.h.)
This seminar examines the relationships among language, social structure, and social action, focusing on the socioculturally and linguistically mediated processes through which human groups reproduce and transform themselves. Language and discourse (both spoken and written), images (both still and dynamic), performances, and other communicative forms and practices are regarded as forms of social action, as a means of production, and as commodities of value. Particular attention is given to the ways in which they shape, and are shaped, by relations of power, at both micro and macro levels of analysis. A primary goal of this seminar is to develop critical perspectives on the place of language in contemporary social theory.
5504. Ethnolinguistics (3 s.h.)
5509. Language Socialization and Cultural Reproduction (3 s.h.)
Language socialization research is concerned with the processes whereby children and other novices, through interactions with older or otherwise more experienced persons, acquire the knowledge, orientations, skills, and practices that enable them to function as (and crucially, to be regarded as) competent members of their communities. This seminar examines language socialization and cultural reproduction as both universal and culturally specific phenomena. Topics explored include theoretical and methodological approaches to socialization; cross-cultural variations in ways of teaching and learning; socialization of children and of other novices; the agency of learners; the socialization of identities, roles, and statuses; and socialization processes as a site of innovation and change. Using the resources of the Linguistic Anthropology Teaching Laboratory, seminar participants collect, analyze, and present ethnographic audio-video data from various local settings (schools, churches, community organizations, workplaces, etc.) in which socialization can be observed.
5510. Methods in Linguistic Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Survey of methods and problems in linguistic anthropology.
5770. Methods in Physical Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Methodological training for graduate students in physical anthropology and the Biocultural adaptation program. Topics include population genetics and demography, osteology, energy flow models, and human physiology.
5796. Biocultural Adaptation in Human Populations (3 s.h.)
This course explores the manner in which the adaptation concept has been used in cultural and biological anthropology. Evaluations of optimization models, thermodynamic models, evolutionary stable strategy theory, cultural materialism and selection models are conducted in a seminar format. Discussions will focus on the extent to which the behavioral and biological characteristics of human populations can be explained in an "adaptive" context. Students will critique specific models and the way they have been applied to groups living in stressful environments.
5797. Reproductive Biology of Human Populations (3 s.h.)
This course surveys classic and contemporary literature on human life history evolution, reproductive physiology, and reproductive ecology. Life history theory relates environmental and ecological conditions to species-specific patterns of life cycle characteristics such as length of gestation, age at sexual maturity, number and size of offspring. The subject matter is organized by the stages of the life cycle (pregnancy/gestation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, post-reproductive period). Readings are selected from original research articles on the physiological processes such as conception, childbirth, lactation, puberty, somatic and reproductive senescence. We examine how humans compare to the non-human primates, what evolutionary explanations have been proposed to account for our differences, and what factors modulate the expression of life history characteristics among human populations?
5798. Seminar in Evolutionary Biology (3 s.h.)
In-depth review of the synthetic theory of evolution, and special topics in evolutionary theory. Emphasis placed on the history of evolutionary thinking, the sources of variation in human populations, evolutionary processes, behavioral ecology, the levels of selection and problems in phylogenetic reconstruction. Anthropologically relevant models will be used throughout the course.
8003. Approaches in Cultural
Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Examination of the major theoretical debates that have informed
cultural anthropology by analyzing how these perspectives have
shaped the development of the ethnographic form. Topics include:
structural-functionalism, professional and symbolic approaches,
political economy, gender theory and post-structuralism.
8004. Approaches in Linguistic
Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Linguistic anthropology is concerned with the dynamic inter-relationships
among language, culture, and society. This course provides
an overview of theoretical and methodological approaches through
which language can be studied in its social and cultural contexts
as a means of communication as well as a medium of power, a
means of production, and a commodity of value. Language is
regarded as a cultural resource, and communicative practices
are treated as forms of social action that vary significantly
from one place and time to another. The role of language in
sociocultural processes of reproduction and change are examined,
revealing that communicative practices and their social organization
are not just reflections of pre-existing social structures
and cultural patterns, but are in fact constitutive of society
and culture.
8005. Approaches in Physical
Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Survey of theories and methodologies used in physical anthropology.
Development of physical anthropological theory and practice,
genetics, hominid evolution, human population variation, primate
history and ethnology, ecology, demography, and physiological
anthropology.
8006. Approaches in Archaeology (3
s.h.)
Examines the methods and theories used in archaeological research
and provides an overview of human history that has been revealed
by archaeological research. Topics covered include the historical
development of archaeology, the nature of archaeological evidence,
measuring and organizing time, analyzing spatial relationships,
interpreting material culture, explanations in archaeology,
hunter-gatherers in prehistory, agricultural origins, origins
of complex societies, historical archaeology, and current trends
in archaeology.
8011. Teaching of Anthropology (3 s.h.)
This course is a workshop on issues in the teaching of anthropology in general and, more specifically, on the teaching of introductory courses in Temple’s Department of Anthropology. Weekly meetings will cover general pedagogical issues such as writing a syllabus, evaluating student writing, constructing class assignments, grading and similar matters. Sample syllabi will be collected and reviewed, along with the textbooks that have been used for various introductory classes. Students will interview those who have experience in teaching introductory courses and will create a syllabus of their own for a course relevant to their individual subfield in anthropology.
8110. Problems in Archaeology (3 s.h.)
Consideration of special theoretical and methodological problems in archaeology. Topical and area emphasis varies by semester.
8310. Problems in Sociocultural Anthropology (3 s.h.)
A seminar oriented to specific research issues. Topics vary from semester to semester.
8315. Writing for Anthropologists (3 s.h.)
8320. Problems in Ethnology (3 s.h.)
Reading and analysis of key ethnographic texts. Major topics include: development of ethnography as a genre in the 20th-century; regional patterns in ethnographic data and their relation to theory formation; postmodern critiques of ethnography; the influence of ethnography on other disciplines; and the use of ethnographics in teaching anthropology.
8330. Problems in Anthropological Methodology (3 s.h.)
8340. Advanced Seminar in Social Anthropology (3 s.h.)
Oriented to specific research issues. Topics vary by semester.
8344. Seminar In Expressive Culture (3 s.h.)
This course explores the major anthropological approaches to the relationship between objects and social life, with a particular focus on art as especially illuminating. Using examples from Africa, the Middle East, Oceania, Europe, and the United States, the following themes are analyzed: how and why are objects categorized (e.g., as art objects, ritual objects, or ethnographic objects); the debate over the cross-cultural applicability of “art” and “aesthetics”; the ideologies of the “artist” in different societies; the ways that different objects are used to define groups of people (e.g., according to clan, race, gender, class, nationality); the relationship between the exchange/circulation of objects and social relations between different groups; the commoditization of objects; the international trade in tourist objects and art; and the role of museums and anthropologists in representing cultures through objects.
8408. Approaches to the
Anthropology of Visual Communication I (3
s.h.)
General introduction to the Anthropology of Visual Communication.
The course has a survey approach; the theoretical overview
is grounded in a perspective that applies concepts of culture
to processes of visual communication.
8409. Approaches to the Anthropology
of Visual Communication II (3 s.h.)
Examination of an anthropological approach to the study of
the uses of the body, space, and the built environment, film,
photographic, and television theories of construction and reception,
art and aesthetics, cyberspace, and museums.
8429. Problems in the Anthropology of Visual Communication (3 s.h.)
Advanced seminar devoted to problematic aspects of visual media, research, fieldwork, production, exposition of issues central to relationships of anthropology, media, and visual communication. Topics vary by semester.
8435. Seminar in Visual Anthropology and the Arts (3 s.h.)
A seminar oriented to specific research issues, with topics varying from semester to semester.
9082. Independent Study (1 to 12 s.h.)
Prerequisite: departmental approval.
Special study on a particular aspect of anthropology under the supervision of an appropriate faculty member. No more than six semester hours can be counted toward degree requirements.
9982. Independent Study (1-12 s.h.)
Prerequisite: departmental approval.
Limited to doctoral students. Specialized study and research under the supervision of a faculty member.
9994. Preliminary Exam Preparation (1-6 s.h.)
Prerequisite: Limited to doctoral students who have finished course work.
9996. Master`s Essay (1 to 12 s.h.)
Students who are doing research and writing for their M.A. thesis should register for this class. Credit does not count toward either the 24 s.h. requirement for MA or the 48 s.h. requirement for the Ph.D.
9998. Pre-Dissertation Research (1-6 s.h.)
Prerequisite: prior approval of the department.
Credits in 9998 are intended for students who have completed their qualifying exams and preparing for field research.
9999. Dissertation Research (1-6 s.h.)
Only students elevated to candidacy and writing the dissertation should register for this course.
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Updated 10.2009